Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm thinking of breaking down and buying a kit. The lmi ones seem to be the best deal around. If they're not will someone steer me to a better one? From what i can gather, the top is already sanded to thickness, joined and has the radius already there. Do the braces come pre-radiused. If not what size radius dish will i need to use? One more question will this file http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproduc ... orner+File for crowning frets?

_________________
-They made me do this-
My name is Matthew Luce

Blues Creek Guitars see the link at top of page and or PM John Hall here on the forum. Just the added tech support John gives alone puts them in a class of their own more less the survice.

the top&back get the radius because the braces and rims are radiused. i just finished my dishes yesterday they are 20'&25', but what i discovered when researching this is that 15-20' is pretty normal for a back and 25-28' for top, though several are outside these radiuses also.
You could make do without dishes but i should think they make life a litlle easier.

take my advice for what it's worth, haven't built a single guitar yet(tooling&jigging, where does it end.....)

Frank

_________________
Frank

What I like about the LMI kit is that you can customize every part. I bought two kits in order to get the discount, but never used the parts on that same guitar. I tacked on as many pieces of binding and purfling i could get on there with the x% off.

John can do quirte a bit of customizing for you as well. Check with him he will supprise you.

Yet another question! They have headplates and headstock veeners, what's the difference?

_________________
-They made me do this-
My name is Matthew Luce

I have to look but suspect head plates are 1/16" thick hardwood of various type and veneers are much thiner colored fish paper and dyed wood for underlayment to make a peghead purfling lines

I would go with John hall, if its your first build, have him bend the sides for you , you will have enough to be concerned with .Plus you will have an experienced builder you can ask questions of if you get stuck anywhere along the way! Jody

Fiddler this may help:

LMI: You can customize your kit from the huge inventory of woods that LMI carries. In addition you have the choice of "serviced" or "unserviced" kits where various tasks, some of the more tricky ones, are done for you in advance. Or you can receive a box of wood and go at it yourself. LMI kits come with Robbie O'Brien's excellent instructional DVD specifically tailored to LMI kit builders but with a tremendous amount of info that would apply well to any guitar building project.

Stew-Mac: The kit comes with many things done for you including the plates joined and sides bent. Radius dishes and outside molds are not required for assembly where Stew-Mac uses a unique assembly process. Documentation is excellent with both a great instruction manual (free for download in advance) and a DVD where Dan Earlywine provides some of the instruction.

John Hall - Blues Creek: These can be highly customized as well and you can pretty much have John put together a kit anyway that you wish. John does not come in the box but he is available to help you via email and phone calls. This personal attention from John is unsurpassed in the guitar kit industry.

Martin kits from Guitarmaker's Connection: Essentially Martin seconds that come with pre-bent sides. My beef with these kits is that they come with essentially a generic guitar assembly pamphlet that does not cut it IMHO...... There is no one to call for assistance either. My second guitar was a Martin kit and had I not already learned some things from my previous Stew-Mac kit I am sure I would not have been able to complete this kit.

Just a brainer ! I am to build my first guitar to, I was looking at LMI´s wizard and stewmac, and all there is to look at, took months to choose whom to buy from. I called and askt Bob at RC tonewoods about back and sides etc, and also mentioned that I was thinking of buying a kit from the LMI´s "kit-wizard" Bob told me just like Michael is, to check out John at BluesCreekGuitars. and I did, I have gotten more info and help since then then I ever thought was possible, and John is helping me all the way to put together what I need, giving suggestions and help along the way. The kit wizard looks great and may be just that, BUT like you askt ,
thats the difference between going to John and LMI. He sees to that you get what you need, and if you need extras, he´ll help you out.
Go with John and you will be set. he´ll make you a great custom kit if you need one.

Lars.

Arg, so many decisions. If i can find a way to thickness top without drum sander i'm skipping the kit...

_________________
-They made me do this-
My name is Matthew Luce

Don't forget the back & sides. They'll need to be thicknessed as well.

_________________
Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

Hand plane & RO sander...it's just not as easy.

_________________
http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

Hesh,
Martin now has a Manuel with their kits that Bill Cory wrote for them. I just got a copy of it the other day, and looks to be well written. Go to kitguitarbuilder.com to order a copy if you are buying a martin kit.

Fiddler, if you don't get a kit from LMI, you should at least get Robbie's DVD. It shows how to build a guitar from scratch, but also covers how to put together a serviced kit. You can't go wrong with that. Good luck!

_________________
Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Add to the list a book...
Bill Cory's "Complete Guide to Building Kit Acoustic Guitars" is an outstanding book with a log to record all those mistakes and triumphs!
Bill is a member here, I think. He does rate John Hall's kits very highly.
(Note: I am not affiliated with Mr. Cory and have no other motive passing on a good piece in information while I wait for my turn in the surgery to try to cure my carpel tunnel syndrome so I can finish my first [a Stew-Mac kit].)

Robert

Thanks Tracy bro I did not know that. This is a very welcome addition to Martin's kits.

Before I bought my easy-bake-oven (Performax 10-20) I used a Wagner Power planer which worked very well after the learning curve and getting hit in the mouth with a bridge blank....... Finish up with a ROS and Bob's your uncle.

The LMI kit comes with the top thicknessed but not quite as thin as most builders use. Their spruce top without the rossette installed comes at about .138"; with rossette installed about .120". It says somewhere on their site but the top I got was thicker than what they state they sand them to.

The radius in the top only comes from the braces being radiused and glued to the top. With the LMI kit you have to make your own braces from billets. (a plus for me)

I think the dishes Robbie uses in the DVD are 15' for the back and 30' for the top.

I'd recommend the LMI kit, I'm halfway through my first and the only beef I had is the top being on the thick side like I mentioned and I'm not a fan of the plans(dreadnought). The plans called for really thick bracing and the bridge was a different size which you have to be aware of if you don't use a huge bridge plate like the plans call for.

Things I'd recommend from personal experience BUY a mold if you don't have prior woodworking experience and radius dishes make things easier like shaping the back rim and acting as a clamping caul.

_________________
Jeremy Douglas